Brave gardaí praised after armed raid
The brother of a well-known publican shot during an attempted robbery today praised the gardaí who chased his attackers.
Charlie Chawke was confronted by two armed men and shot in the leg at lunchtime yesterday – even though he offered to hand over the weekend takings from his Dublin pub.
Gardaí were shot at while chasing the attackers but they arrested two men, who were still being questioned today.
Mr Chawke’s brother Gerry said the publican was in a stable condition after undergoing surgery.
He congratulated officers who spotted the incident outside Mr Chawke’s south Dublin pub, The Goat, and chased the armed men.
He said: “All I can say is that they were absolutely fantastic. They were two brave young men.
“They were on their duty in a patrol car just passing by the road. Thankfully, they were passing at the right time.
“I would just love to compliment them and I can’t praise them enough.”
After the shooting the attackers took Mr Chawke’s bag of cash and fled the scene in a car.
Officers in a passing patrol car chased the vehicle until it drove down a cul-de-sac.
A number of shots were fired in the direction of the unarmed officers and the occupants of the car ran away.
The gardaí chased them on foot and arrested two men nearby. They found two firearms and a sum of money.
Both men were taken to Blackrock garda station where they were being detained under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act.
Justice Minister Michael McDowell congratulated the officers involved in the chase.
He said: “I wish to congratulate the members of An Garda Síochána for their bravery in confronting these armed thugs and to commend them for the speedy way they dealt with the matter.
“Here again we have another example of the courage and dedication to duty by members of our police force, of which we can be proud and grateful.”
